AGENCY ORDERS FULL SET OF SPRINTER BRAKE PARTS

Transit officials said Tuesday that they have ordered a full set of replacement brake rotors for the idled Sprinter trains, adding that the repair process is “moving swiftly and efficiently.”

The North County Transit District shut down the Ocean-side-to-Escondido Sprinter system starting March 9, after it discovered accelerated wear on all 12 trains’ brake rotors.

Officials from the agency said the full set of brake parts should arrive by late April, and they hope to announce a Sprinter “relaunch” date at that time. The district initially estimated that the network would be offline for two to four months.

On Sunday, the agency conducted a successful test run on one Sprinter train between Escondido and San Marcos, a transit spokeswoman said. That followed the installation of a limited supply of 100g split-disc rotors.

District officials had said they expected to order the full set of replacement brake parts in May.

Despite several requests, the agency has not provided cost figures for the limited or full set of replacement rotors.

In addition, the district had said it ordered two limited sets of replacement rotors for testing and would determine which was the best to use. On Wednesday, a spokeswoman said the agency went ahead with a full order from Kovis, a Slovenia-based rail parts maker, because its rotors “performed so well” in testing. She also said the agency won’t cancel the parts from the second manufacturer and will keep those solid disc rotors on hand.

The full order with Kovis, placed on Monday, includes rotors for all the Sprinter trains plus spares.